Hats off to the entire team for meeting and sensitizing the RBI
officials. As someone rightly stated, it is (RBI) n only an
implementing body so we should strongly push this key concern with
Government officials and honorable Courts. In my View also the
different sizes of the notes are the more practical solution. We can
also think of embossing Braille numbers in terms of 50, 100, 200
numbers respectively at each corners of the currency bills. In the
meanwhile, we can use different pockets of our purses for
differentiating the currency or can try to use as much as possible the
digital payment system.
On 9/23/17, P. Subramani via Ai wrote:
> meetings with ower people of rbi and the ministry although good will not
> get any steps forward as they are bound by certain rules, also they are mere
> implementers rather than decision-makers, the last possible option is to
> meet the finance minister to explain equovically the blind aren't able
> identify these new notes, the same should be withdrawn and restore the sizes
> of old notes, even if they have croers on new designs etc., its their
> headache to have come up with solutions including for the blind, we must
> bring this to pm's attention to find a immediate/suitable solution, or
> else, we will be left in the dark in the use of new notes
> E-Mail: subramani6...@gmail.com
> Mob: 9738150192
>
> - Original Message -
> From: "Ketan Kothari via Ai"
> To: "Share, empower &Enrich"
> Cc: "Ketan Kothari"
> Sent: Friday, September 22, 2017 12:08 PM
> Subject: Re: [Ai] Representation to RBI for accessible Indian Currency, an
> update on meeting with RBI
>
>
>> Dear Friends,
>>
>> Extremely good work. I remember having participated in at least 2
>> meetings of this nature. Unfortunately, not much has yielded. Also,
>> the problem of coins is equally challenging and is getting worse.
>>
>> Actually, I feel that we must take up this issue with the minister of
>> finance as at a certain level, RBI is also bound by executive orders.
>>
>> With best wishes,
>>
>> Ketan
>>
>> On 9/20/17, Blind Graduates' Forum of India (BGFI) via Ai
>> wrote:
>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>> Here is a brief update on our meeting with RBI authorities.
>>> We had Kanchan Pamnani, Suhas Karnik, Amar Jain and myself Vishal
>>> Kumar Jain attending the meeting. First of all thanks a lot for all
>>> those who have supported with a lot of ground work and those who wrote
>>> to the authorities which enabled us have this meeting in the first
>>> place.
>>>
>>> We discussed on each of the points highlighted in the representation.
>>> The RBI team was relatively new to the subject and unfortunately they
>>> were not updated with earlier conversations on it. Overall it was a
>>> much needed discussion and the team was receptive to listen to our
>>> suggestions. However the team avoided making any commitments. Below
>>> are the key highlights:
>>> 1. The longest conversation was on size variation which remains a
>>> major issue. If RBI goes ahead with their plan, the size variation of
>>> notes will come down from 10mm to around 4mm with the introduction of
>>> new Rs. 100, Rs. 20 and Rs. 10 notes. More over the width of all the
>>> notes is expected to be the same (66mm). This will make it close to
>>> impossible for us to identify the notes. While the team understood our
>>> concerns, they expressed their own challenge of maintaining variation
>>> due to reduction in overall size of the notes.
>>> 2. The team was taken aback to understand that the bleed line and
>>> tactile markings are not perceivable. They accepted the fact and
>>> confirmed to prioritize on finding a solution to make it perceivable.
>>> They also expressed technical challenges in making it happen.
>>> 3. Inputs on low vision friendly features was welcomed and they plan
>>> to continue with contrast color, color variation, font size, etc.
>>> 4. Fake notes issue was acknowledge and they thought of focusing on
>>> perceptible tactile markings and keeping the texture of notes
>>> different from normal paper.
>>> 5. The team confirmed to pass on inputs related to issues other than
>>> currency notes to relevant departments and discussion on accessible
>>> websites and apps was in brief.
>>> 6. Most importantly we discovered that RBI had interactions with NGOs
>>> and teams like us in the past. However the inputs and suggestions have
>>> not been valued given the fact they have gone ahead with lower size
>>> variation and unperceivable tactile markings in the new notes.
>>>
>>> So on the whole the meeting was productive in sensitizing the team on
>>> our needs. At the same time it doesn’t assure of our issues getting
>>> sufficiently addressed any time soon. Unless we intensify our voice
>>> and raise the issue on all possible forums, we will end up having
>>> notes with very little size variation making it highly inaccessible.
>>> We will continue our effort on this. However we would need more active
>>> involvement from